Fire HD 8 Plus tablet, HD display, 32 GB, (2020 release), our best 8′ tablet for portable entertainment, Slate

Our family has had so many ipads, ipad airs, ipad minis… And i can say that – when bought brand spanking new, at the time of release, we were in love. Honeymoons don’t last forever, unfortunately, and neither do the tablets. Not once did we break them beyond being fixable; every single time they’ve ‘updated out’ and none of the apps worked. They’re not even good for internet after awhile, because even safari and chrome have to be updated for use… And the updates will not work with the outdated ios. Yknow, because $600+ for 2-4 years is acceptable. Not. But dumb sheeple me, kept on buying them. ‍

i bought my son a 6th gen ipad mini last november. It was newish and on backorder til about early-mid december. I gave it to him as a gift in a childproof case. So it has been protected since i got it. Since before he got it. And two weeks ago it quit charging. Now, he uses his ipad for everything: communication. Education. Entertainment. Besides the $600 i paid, and even with the $3.49/month applecare, it’s just totally unacceptable. After taking it to two localish apple premium partners, neither of which wanted to fix it and both of which wanted to just sell me a new one, and because all our other ipads (4 that i haven’t tossed yet) won’t allow him to access his communication apps anymore, i cried and then ordered the fire mini on my 23% interest credit card because he needs accesss to something he can communicate on.

I’m, erm, a girl of a certain age. Getting more and more stubborn about learning new technology stuff. So getting used to this has been a mite frustrating for me. My son, 25 with the cognitivity and resilience of a 2 year old, hasn’t skipped a beat. It’s early days – and i did buy the 2 year amazon protection with the ‘firepad’ as we call it – but for $200 plus tax, tag & title this little fire tablet is at least the quality equivalent of the $600 ipad mini.

The only cons… The display is just as good as the ipad, though the colors aren’t quite as vibrant/vivid. Is that worth $400 more… Not for anyone i know. It just takes a little getting used to (i’m talking maybe 2 days with minimal usage by a stubborn adult) and then it’s not an issue anymore. The biggest con, though, is that google won’t hop in bed with amazon – apparently – as willingly as they do apple. No google app, no chrome app, no youtube app. I just use the silk browser (bing… Yuck!) type in google for google searches or youtube to watch videos. Maybe 3 seconds of frustration but it does remember my yt log in after the first time, so there’s that to help lessen the annoyance for when i use it. (my son watches youtube on his tv anyway.)

cliff notes: .
(screw apple. Buy fire.)

This amazon fire hd 8 plus is a great complementary device for those who already have a real computer. This is true whether that real computer is a desktop or a laptop. Windows 10 or mac os, it doesn’t matter. As long as you have a ‘real’ computer, this fire hd 8 plus table is a great companion device. Perhaps the best companion device for most people.

I work in the it field. In my opinion, most people overbuy and overspend on technology devices. Which is fine, buying that new toy can be fun. For a while. But know this. A lot of you what buy, you can do without. Let me explain. A computing device like a desktop or a laptop gives you the most versatility. Add a smart phone and those are all the tech needed by the majority of people. Most do not need a writing tablet to draw on or take notes on. Most just need a secondary device for portability and quick access. A fire tablet will do that.

I own a windows 10 and a macbook laptops. I also own an ipad. Occasionally, i would use my kindle reader and my old fire hdx 7. I only need three to meet all of my needs. One laptop, my smart phone, and a tablet. I only use the ipad to pick fights on twitter, make quick purchases on amazon, and check my email. I may go on facebook once in a while. Guess what. Any windows 10 or macbook would do those and with more versatility. My smart phone would do all of those, although with a lot less versatility and more aggravation. An amazon fire tablet will do all of those things, with more finesse and ease than a smart phone. And just as well as an ipad.

I bought this new fire to replace a 2015 fire hdx 7. The hdx 7 is still in perfect shape. The battery holds as much charge as when it was new. But it no longer runs the amazon shopping app. That’s the only thing wrong with it. My kindle is also of 2015 vintage. That kindle is also still in perfect condition. But this newer model has updates that i wanted. Like front and rear facing cameras. The hdx 7 only has a front facing camera. I wanted to run the amazon shopping app, for ease of use. I also wanted to start a relationship with the charming alexa. It doesn’t mean i’m dumping sirri though.

I can readily recommend this amazon fire hd 8 plus for most people who already have a true computer, whether it’s windows or mac. This is a great companion device for those who already have a computer. It is a lot less expensive than an ipad and does almost as much. It is also a lot more durable. Most tablets are used for media consumption and social interactions. You can do those on this fire. The only thing you might miss is a browser like safari or edge. Silk works fine and it has gotten better over the years, but i still prefer a traditional browser.

I did not order the wireless dock. This fire will be carried with me to work. Charging with the usb is fine for now. I bought the amazon protective sleeve that was made for this device. You want to keep your fire in some kind of a protective sleeve so the screen does not get scratched.

When you buy tech toys, find the sweet spot. Always buy something that can be upgraded. I have added more ram as well as upgraded the hard drive to solid state on my 5-year-old windows 10 laptop. It still runs great after five years. It is a high-end lenovo model. Likewise, i bought the fire hd 8 plus because you can add additional storage easily. You cannot really upgrade an ipad. I am not saying buy high end, but pay more up front and keep the device for a lot longer.

This fire hd 8 plus is a fine device. No, it will not meet the needs of the artists who wants to use a pen/stylus to draw. It will not meet the requirements of the busy college student who wants to take precise notes by hand on a tablet. But it will capably do email, twitter, facebook, amazon purchases, take pictures, make videos, ebooks, audiobooks, just fine. The silk browser has gotten better and works well.

I am a fan of amazon’s tablet offerings and have been for years. I do also have ipads, which i use for music related apps. But for everyday uses the fire hd tablets are a very smart option.
What i like:
1. Price – you get a lot of computer for relatively little money
2. Screen & speakers – amazon has improved the resolution and brightness of their tablet screens over the last few years that rival apple, samsung, etc. Movie audio is crisp and loud enough, even streaming music isn’t bad on the built-in stereo speakers
3. Battery – on the 8′ and 10′ fire hd tablets you will get impressive battery life, especially if you take the effort to power off if you won’t be using it for a few days. The 7′ tablet does not have quite the same battery life however, from my experience
4. Everyday uses – amazon’s browser, email, office, games, entertainment, audio books, music, etc integrated apps are well thought out and work intuitively and efficiently on these tablets.
5. Entertainment and shopping – if you’re a prime member the fire hd tablet is really a no-brainer, especially if you watch prime or other prescription streaming video or do any amount of shopping at amazon or whole foods
6. Alexa and smart devices – the fire hd tablets easily work together with your home smart devices, such as ring doorbells and security detectors and are quite versatile too. You can sync them with your echo devices, tvs, security video cameras, etc. You can even use them to communicate with other fire tablets in your home – almost like a video intercom system
7. Updates – amazon is always improving the functionality of their devices so new features often appear with os updates. Basically you’re getting more than you paid for over time.

What i don’t like so much:
1. Fire os – amazon has done a great job with their operating system but still has some work to do as far as multi-tasking, efficiency and compatibility with certain file protocols. Also the internal filing system and access to the sd card for storage is a little clunky. Transferring files from one device to another can be confusing
2. Camera integration – the fire hd tablets have decent cameras (well, the front one is decent) but they don’t seem to play that well with the included photo app – and the filing system apart from amazon cloud is again, somewhat non-intuitive. This is something that obviously can be remedied with software updates, hopefully soon.
3. 3rd party applications – amazon is pretty strict about which apps can be used with the fire os (you cannot download from googleplay) so there are likely a few apps you like that will be unavailable – unless you hack the tablet to run as a straight-up android device, which defeats the purpose of having an amazon device in the first place. So..

That pretty much covers it from my perspective. The fire hd 8′ & 10′ are a real bargain in the android-ish tablet market, imho. I really love mine and use them daily and believe you will love yours too!

I’ve bought many different tablets that were under $100, and they were all so slow and bleh. The fire hd 8 plus is so quick and speedy, i mean wow! I play games on it with no frame drops, quickly scroll and switch between apps with no lag.. It’s insane how good this tablet is for the price. I’d honestly say it’s the best tablet ever, simply because of that!

I have just one complaint about it, and it’s that the only app store available is the amazon app store, which doesn’t have some of the apps i use from the google play store on my phone (like snapchat, google voice, cash app) but it does have a lot of them, and i don’t really mind not having them all on my tablet.

The amazon app store is great, there are thousands of apps in it. Just don’t expect it to have every single one you use on your phone!

I’ve actually been an early adopter of the fire tablet line, beginning with fire tablet 7 many years ago. I purchased the fire 8 plus recently when it was advertised at a sale price. I love the form factor. Its the perfect balance of mobility and visibility. I also own the 2021 fire tablet 10 with the keyboard case accessory. That’s a great unit as well, but i digress. The fire 8 plus brings that same processing power, memory, and battery life into a smaller package along with wireless charging capability. It’s really a great unit and is currently my every day carry. I know i could do some turns and tricks to get the g–gle play store on the device, but i’ve been happy with just using the amazon app store for the device, realizing that there is a lot i can do in the silk browser that continues to make this a very functional device. One of my favorite features about the operating system is the allowance of formatting your microsd card as internal or portable storage. This was a genius customer focused feature that makes this device highly competitive with it’s much more expensive competitors. I’m a happy customer and continue to enjoy the fire tablet offerings, the fire 8 plus included!

I was reluctant to try a new device just for reading. I wanted to hold onto my old school always have a book in my hand way of reading. But my husband is not a reader and i was keeping him up at night with the light, the book and the whole set up. I bought this for myself as a birthday gift and am already in love with it. Easy to use, can have several books going at once and easy to travel with. I love that it finds similar styles of books based on what i am reading and i will never be without a book to read.

This is my third fire tablet eight. I decided to get the newest version with the extra memory and the wireless charging. I don’t use wireless charging often because i find plugging it in to be more efficient and faster. Most apps run pretty well. But i do notice that there seems to be all a lot of lagging between screens. Sometimes opening more then one program, it takes time for the fire to open an application. I suspect it’s because i placed an antivirus program on the tablet that is active full-time. I’m going to keep testing with the antivirus off and all to see what happens. When the programs are running there seems to be no lag whatsoever only between shifting from one application to another. This is a great little tablet for travel for me because i use it for lite games and movies. I do recommend the tablet for anybody who’s looking for something inexpensive and for some light web browsing and movie watching. Although personally i think you can simply get away with the regular 2 mb ram version instead of the 3 mb version.

I won’t go into all of the technical aspects since those have been done to death (but perfectly) in many of the other reviews.

I ordered this as a package with the wireless charger stand that converts it into an alexa device when mated. The package arrived within the two day prime shipping time, so i guess the cv19 is having less of an effect on amazon shipping as time passes.

I actually had 2 fire hd 10 tablets for complicated reasons that probably don’t really fit the story. I loved almost every aspect of the 10-inch tablet except the size when i was trying to read in bed. It is just too big and awkward to comfortably hold.

I quickly opened everything and powered up the tablet and started what i thought would be the normal configuration procedure. Almost everything was the same as with the other two tablets i had with the exception of the annoying animated video you have to sit through that explains the different functions and benefits of the fire tablets. There really should be an option that allows the animation to be skipped, especially for repeat owners. During the configuration process, the tablet does download the latest updates to the operating system. Since i previously had a fire tablet that i had deregistered, the configuration process gave me the option to download all of the apps, settings, etc. From that tablet. The odd thing was that since i had two tablets it only gave me the option to sync the information from the tablet i had deregistered and performed a factory reset on over a week ago and not the tablet i had just deregistered yesterday. Other than that, everything went very smoothly.

After that process was complete, i went into youtube and watched a video that i would recommend everyone with any of the fire tablets should watch on tips & tricks for the fire hd 8. It is a short video and gives instructions on several settings changes that are very beneficial and do not affect the warranty or stability of the tablet.

After getting everything configured to suit me i went to the amazon app store and downloaded a few more things that didn’t transfer over from syncing the to the settings on one of my previous tablets.

Amazon may censor this comment, but i also sideloaded the google playstore so i could download several other apps that were critical to me.

After all that was completed, i was pleasantly surprised that several minor changes had been made to the user interface and other functions that are great improvements. They are so subtle that most casual users may not even notice but i appreciate the upgrades.

The tablet is very snappy and the apps all execute very quickly. The screen resolution is lower than the 10-inch tablets but since the screen is smaller i cannot discern any difference in viewing quality of icons, photos, or video. The placement of the stereo speakers is better than the 10-inch tablet but since the device is so small there probably isn’t much benefit. I did connect to my bluetooth earbuds and watch part of a movie and the sound quality and stereo sound stage are excellent.

The other improvements aside, the bottom line is that the form factor of the 8-inch table suits my needs much better. This thing is very comfortable to hold and is still large enough to provide extremely good viewing quality at a fraction of the cost of samsung and apple tablets. I have owned a couple of samsung tablets and a sony xperia tablet in the past and for the most part, they are great tablets but are really overkill for the typical user.

When you decide you need a tablet make sure you make an accurate assessment of your actual needs and don’t buy something that is bigger or more than what you really need.

Now…go read the in-depth technical writeups from other reviewers and more importantly watch several of the youtube videos that demonstrate both the fire hd 8 and hd 8 plus to make sure they are right for you.

Faster, lighter, and more capacity than my previous (several yr old) hd 8. The greatest thing is that the charging port is now usb-c, so it’s now the same as my phone and paperwhite. I like the color screen, but i don’t use it to play games; i mostly just read or look at email and news apps.

I’ve had fire tablets ever since the old 6′ model from 6 or 8 years ago. They’re great as media consumption devices, so long as you understand what you’re getting. They’re not as responsive as apple products, or as pretty, but you can also buy 8 of them for the price of one ipad mini.

That said, the performance gap has closed significantly with this new model. I buy a new one every other year give or take, and this one (2020 release) is so much more responsive than the 2018 model i had. The interface actually moves when you swipe, menus come up quickly, etc. It’s still not a replacement for a ‘real’ tablet, but it’s far more pleasant to use.

Media consumption continues to be the main/only use for it, and it excels at that. The screen is bright and colorful, the only issue with it being a pretty narrow field of view (it starts to dim pretty rapidly as you get past a couple degrees of viewing angle). Not too much of a problem since it’s not really for sharing the screen, but i did notice some parallax while watching stuff in bed at night (where one eye would see it fine, and the screen was dimmer for the other eye). I have a kindle paperwhite for reading, and i don’t think this screen would be great for ebook readers in comparison to a real e-paper reader.

I don’t think i’ve ever actually taken a picture with the built-in camera, so i couldn’t tell you if it’s any good. My guess is that regardless of what phone you have, it’s probably better.

Battery life has really improved in my experience. I don’t have an hour estimate, but after watching a movie it’s usually still at least at 80% or more.

The browser is better than before, but still not great. Silk tries to cache pages to give the impression of speed, but it still feels slow, and pages still render weird a lot of the time. I don’t use it for much unless i really need to look something up, even then i’ll usually pull out my phone because it’s more responsive.

As far as apps are concerned, it’s a mixed bag. It has most of the streaming services that are important to me: disney+, hbo, mlb.tv, and (obviously) prime video. It also has apps for netflix, hulu, etc. I’m not sure about appletv+, but i don’t actually know anyone that cares about that one anyway. As for other apps, they’re there. That’s about all i could really say. As i said, i use this pretty much exclusively as a media-consumption device, so i’m not downloading a ton of games or productivity apps.

Overall i recommend this for a very narrow use case. If you want an ipad and think you can get away with spending a whole lot less by buying this, you’re going to be disappointed. This is not that. That said, if all you want to be able to do is watch movies or tv shows in bed on a bigger screen than your phone, this does that job very well.

…but it doesn’t have to be one. Yes, i know, i’m comparing a $100+ device with one that at minimum costs several times more, but that’s unavoidable. Ipads are, after all, the gold standard of tablets, regardless of what those who stand firmly on the android side of the fence think. Having said all of that, not everyone needs an ipad. For what it is, the fire hd 8 plus is a pretty decent device that will serve your content-consuming needs quite well for the price. In fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any other android-based tablet that even comes close to its functionality at the same price point.

So, a bit about the specifics. This device runs amazon’s fire os, which is basically a reskinned version of android, minus the google apps that come on most android-based devices. If this is an immediate turn-off, fear not – installing the google apps is a relatively simple procedure that takes no more than a few minutes. Even disregarding them, this tablet offers a surprising amount of functionality for one of its price point. The amazon app store has a decent selection of apps available, although i’ve noticed that a few of them seem to not be updated as often as their counterparts through google play. Again, though, if this is an issue for anyone, it’s easily fixed. Needless to say, app availability isn’t going to be a problem for most people.

Moving on, we have the specific focus of the device, which is consuming content, or more specifically, letting you line lex luthor’s pockets. Fire os is certain to take every opportunity available to shove content recommendations down your throat, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re looking for good stuff to read or watch. Fire os includes a recommendations section at the top of the home screen that gives you recommendations based on your personal info and privacy that you signed away by using amazon’s ecosystem. For voracious readers, this can be a big boon, especially for those who like to discover new stuff to read. For others, it can be an annoyance, although really it’s not so bad as it doesn’t get in the way of anything.

So, let’s talk about the hardware real quick. The overall design of this device is decent, especially considering the low price. The casing is all plastic, yet not overly cheap feeling. In fact, it feels surprisingly rugged yet is quite light, meaning that you won’t be straining your hand or tiring your arm during long reading sessions. The 8-inch screen seems to be the perfect size for reading ebooks. In fact, i much prefer it to the 10-inch model for this very purpose, as the latter seems to be a bit too unwieldy for my tastes. The screen quality, while nothing to write home about, is quite sufficient and doesn’t detract from the quality of your time spent using the device. Still though, unless you’re a stickler for color content, those who prefer reading bog-standard books may prefer a kindle or other e-ink based device. But really, that’s all just a matter of personal preference.

The internals of this tablet are decent, again, for its price point. The key here, though, is the price point. You’re not going to get an extremely powerful device for just over $100, so don’t expect this tablet to expand your productivity options or to give you a riveting gaming experience. As an example of the latter, you won’t be able to run genshin impact or diablo immortal on this device, as the hardware just isn’t up to the task. For lighter games, though, it’ll work fine. Just don’t expect miracles.

Overall, there’s more i could nitpick here, such as the typical laggy experience that cheaper devices suffer from when burdened by an android-based os, but i think most people can live with such things when it comes to low-end hardware. For what the fire hd 8 plus promises, you’ll get a pretty decent content-consuming experience.

Good: inexpensive, high battery life, adequate performance, usb-c charging

bad: hard to hold, thick and heavy for screen size, unacceptable button placement, wireless charging turns device into echo show with ads – a feature i would pay to remove!

I have owned three fire hd 8 tablets and each generation has gotten more annoying to use because of compromises in the design intended to make them less expensive to produce. I am extremely happy that amazon has decided to market this upgraded version with 3 gb of ram because that is now the minimum needed to run android or fire os smoothly. The 1.5 that came with my second fire hd8 never worked – it just isn’t enough anymore, whereas the 2 gb that came with my first hd8 waa plenty for that era. I think amazon was foolish to make that change on the base hd8 because of the added frustration to the end user, but at least there is a choice to upgrade to this ‘plus’ version with its frustration-free 3gb setup. Is the experience as smooth or responsive as even the least expensive ipad? Certainly not. But those start at $400 and this was closer to $120. What i really want is a $185 option that combines this specification or better with the physical design and form factor of earlier fire hd8 generations, because when it comes to physical design this generation of fire tablets is extremely annoying! I am sure the changes are all designed to minimize cost but please find a better to do that than to put the power and volume buttons so close together with such a similar size and feel. It is far too easy to press the power button to begin with because it protrudes to far from the case and doesn’t have a very strong spring, but when you put it right next to an identical feeling volume button that is just unacceptable! There is good reason why almost every phone and tablet in the world has these buttons in different locations ( often opposite sides or ends of the phone.)

i happen to believe that it probably would work to have both buttons on the same end as the charger and headphone jack but not if you put them this close together, and give them exactly the same tactile feel and the same overly light spring rate. Please at least recess the power button, use a different surface texture and a stiffer spring. Or better yet move it to the opposite corner where the headphone jack is now.

And for users with the current, unfortunate design you could eliminate the worst effects with a software update. Just modify the software to require a longer press of the power key before it shuts down the display. If a one-second press were required then it would eliminate 90% of the instances when i have accidentally shut down the screen trying n to change the volume. With no security options other than a pass code, tis means i almost every time i try to adjust the volume while listening to a podcast or watching a video i have that experience interupted and i end up having to enter my pass code and physically restart what i was listening to just because i tried to adjust the volume. This design choice just doesn’t work. Fix it, amazon!

Another cost saving design choice is that amazon has allowed the hd8 tablets to get thicker each generation, which i agree is probably reasonable. But between the thicker body and the much smaller bezel compared to previous generations, i am finding this version much more difficult to hold. I actually think the sensitivity of the screen might also be a factor because if i put fingers on the front edge if the glass at all this registers as a touch. So to prevent that my fingers must stay on the plastic, and there just isn’t enough plastic on the front bit the tablet to get a good grip. That gives the impression of the tablet being heavier and more awkward than it probably is. And again this could be an issue that might be addressed with software if the screen sensitivity could be decreased a bit to reject unintended ‘touches’ at the edges ( in this case beyond the edges). Of the screen.

My final gripe is going to be about the behavior of the device when put on a wireless charger. Oddly, when i want to use a wireless charger my intention is to actually charge the device. It is not to turn my tablet, for which i paid extra to have ads removed from the lock screen into an always on echo show with advertising!

I’m sure there are some people who might actually use an echo show and for them this must feel like an amazing value. Like getting a second device for free. But i just want it gone. I would never willingly use, much less purchase, an echo show, particularly one with a working camera, because i can’t accept the privacy and security risk. And i certainly don’t want another device showering.me with advertising.

That said, i don’t object at all into amazon including the echo show functionality with the tablet, or even having it run by default when you connect it to a wireless charger, but there needs to be clear documentation about how to control this feature and how to turn it off both permanently and temporarily. Without that i am actually losing two features i specifically paid for on this tablet, wireless charging and freedom from advertising. Please do a much better job explaining this feature and how to control it as you update the device software

I do not mean ‘wild’ kindly, but i’ll get to that shortly. Sorry for the long read, but i have a lot of thoughts about this particular product to inform you, the end-user of your purchasing decision before you commit a purchase, and as a responsible citizen of the internet, i’ve heavily tested the tablet hands-on to see what i can make it do, how i can make it work and where amazon’s hires could improve the overall experience for a multi-adult household.

The tablet itself is functional. What else is there to say about it? Inside a home or building, so long the sun isn’t shining directly on it the display is bright, with a clear, crisp display and along with a decent battery much bigger than your current handheld mobile device, you also get anywhere between a mediocre and acceptable tablet use experience, depending on how much money you hand to amazon. I painfully regret not going with the fire hd 10, but i am a bit of a cheapskate and after having seen what comes with the fire hd kids’ pro 8 through an encounter with a daughter of my mother’s friend, i figured the fire hd 8 plus would be the same exact experience — and i can happily say, it is.

The inclusion of a three-pole phone socket for headphones and tf / micro sd slot for extra storage practically makes it the ideal tablet computer… Until you try to use it as a multi-user tablet computer. But we’ll get to those gripes later. First impressions of the hardware makes it seem like the absolute perfect device for personal and work use, domestic and abroad. A simple tablet with great features. Except for a gsm / sim slot but if you already have a mobile handheld, the fire can use wireless tethering whenever the tablet needs access to the internet where wifi isn’t available, and it can do calls via wifi so that’s something if your friends aren’t using any of the supported social network platforms available through amazon’s app market.

Fire os on the other hand, that’s uhm — fun. Yes, fun. If you receive nothing else from this, should you be the sole adult of the tablet, then you have nothing to worry about. Everything just works — for you. For anyone else? Yeah, nah. Show mode is honestly a great inclusion, as well alexa hands-free — it’s like if you have a general-purpose tablet, amazon show desktop unit and phone (which can only do calls via wifi) for what was at the time of prime day anywhere between sixty and eighty dollars depending on device capabilities. What a bargain!

…for the primary user. Second adult? Nah, can’t do show mode, alexa hands-free or wifi calling. But children can do calls with approved contacts and permission from their parents! That hardly makes any sense — if you’re not a child you don’t get to make calls beyond the primary profile? Why? Speaking of kids, if you think that kids’ launcher or adult settings will let you move off all of the kids’ apps to an sd card, ha ha nope. So your child will very likely make using the tablet almost impossible after they stuff the internal storage with nothing but pointless games.

For a couple, it makes even less sense to buy this for the intent of using voice recognition features. Sure, auto guy and shop girl can keep their profiles separate, but only one of them get the privilege of using all of the tablet’s features. A second adult profile is like a grown-up kid, and feels almost demeaning, which likely means whoever wears the pants between two people will be the one with the primary account which does everything. And what if they want to share applications? There’s no easy way to do this beyond reinstalling them on the other profile. I’ve looked, and there seems to be no way of easily sharing apps between adult profiles which especially makes installation of such things as google play a major drag without third-party guidance and tools.

It’s an amazon device, so of course it will advertise amazon everything — even washington post. If you don’t use that service, too bad can’t disable. If you don’t care about amazon’s other services, too bad shove it in a folder on the fire launcher. Without tinkering beyond what amazon allows you to do, it kind of makes using the tablet a terrible experience being inundated with all of these amazon-owned things at once, and for some people the constant upselling is enough to warrant a return.

If you can get over all of that — and again, if you are the sole adult of the tablet, none of the above save for the upsells are really an issue — then you have yourself a capable and handy little android-based tablet which will do almost everything you want. A solid product with a mediocre and terribly flawed os, but one if you’ve committed your entire life to amazon may be welcome. As i exhibit no such brand loyalty i’m exceedingly annoyed, but all of the thorns and papercuts are nothing a little bit of tinkering cannot cleave and become rid of.

Edit 07/06/21.1: minor correction, seems like while four-pole may fit, i can’t use external mic with the tablet or fire os doesn’t disclose how to do this.
Edit 07/06/21.2: grammar and error corrections

The amazon fire hd 8 is designed for happy amazon customers who don’t mind being restricted to the amazon ecosystem. You can stream amazon media, read amazon books, buy stuff from amazon, and download amazon-approved apps from the amazon app store. Did you notice all the “amazons” in those two sentences? That’s a pretty good summary of the fire experience, until you tweak it.

To be fair, all the major apps are available – netflix/hbo/disney etc., ms office/zoom/skype etc., most of the civilization-destroying social media apps, and thousands of those dumb little dinky doodle games.

What’s not available is almost everything i want on my tablet, with firefox and duckduckgo browsers at the top of the list. Fortunately, a little tweaking leads straight to the pot of gold – google play store, which opens up the entire google ecosystem. Search “install google play store on amazon fire hd,” to learn how.

Once google play store is installed, it’s a vastly better device. You get almost everything google offers (some of it is incompatible with fire), and you can take your pick of web browsers.

It’s still a low-end tablet, but if you get it on promotion it’s an outstanding value. I paid $50, plus $15 for the no-ads upgrade (i’ve seen those lock screen ads, they’re super annoying), plus $35 for 64 gb internal storage. I traded in a dying samsung tablet and got $20 off, and a $5 gift card. I got me a darn good tablet for just $80.

My only real beef is that it doesn’t support casting. Apparently older models did, so what’s up with that, amazon? My best guess is that casting competes with the fire tv stick. This is the only reason it gets four stars instead of five.

So out of the box, it gets three stars. Tweak it with google play store, and it moves up to four. It would be five stars with casting. For me, it’s primarily a travel device: a larger screen than my phone for web browsing, plus movies and streaming video. I just wish amazon would lighten up and make it easy to install google play store – and of course restore casting.

Pros:

• price!!! (especially on sale)
• 58 bazillion apps, once you install google play store
• excellent video, and decent sound. Bluetooth earbuds sound great
• microsd slot, for all my movies
• good battery life
• wireless charging

cons:

• doesn’t cast!
• far fewer apps in the amazon app store, and many of those are amazon-modified. No web browsers at all, which brings me to –
• silk browser stinks – it’s slow, the whole design is awkward, and it has very limited features (especially privacy, huge surprise)
• dumb feature – if it’s asleep, the only way to wake it up is to find and press the tiny little power button. Hey amazon – how about “any button wakes device,” or even better, “tap screen twice wakes device”?
• you can’t uninstall unwanted amazon apps, and you can’t remove any app shortcuts from your home screen. I created a home screen folder called ‘amazon crap’ – guess what’s in it.
• installing google play store is a little tricky – google it to learn how
• connecting to your pc for usb data transfer is a little tricky – google it to learn how

For it’s price this model year of kindle i honestly find to be worth it. The screen is mostly as good as advertised with occasional glare and is occasional prone to be a bit of fingerprint magnet. The battery is significantly improved in comparison to some older models and i find it to last days with moderate use. Honestly the main drawback would be it’s lack of connectivity with google apps (youtube, chrome,etc.) and it’s reliance amazon’s os and apps (though if you use a lot of amazon apps and products in your home already, then the tablet’s value increases)

Out of the box it’s a three-star device. If you are intending to use it for serious stuff there’s several things i advise. The first thing is get 32 gig model. Then go online and get the workaround that will give you the google play store. After that the first thing you should do is put in the google keyboard. It’s called gboard. I found the native keyboard to be really stubbornly difficult. Particularly with the swipe style of typing. Make sure you get the model that has wireless charging. These devices have a weak spot if you plug it in and out a lot, which i do. You avoid that with the wireless charging. It works with recent models of wireless charges, not necessarily from amazon. To be safe get the amazon wireless charger and pay the premium. I strongly advise waiting for the mega sales like black friday stuff. They give serious discounts on the amazon tablets. Very serious.

[tl;dr]
imo, the amazon fire tablets are the only <$100 tablets worth buying.
If you already have the last gen fire hd 8, this only offer a mild upgrade, maybe wait for a sale.
But if you’re looking for your first budget tablet, go ahead and grab this!

[amazon annoyances]
amazon has pretty much been the king of budget tablets, sure there are some annoying things, like no google play store, poor youtube support, annoying bloatware, etc. But all of these could be solved with a quick youtube search 😉

[should you buy this?]
unless you’re looking to buy a higher end tablet used on ebay, i’d say go with this!
And if you order an older used tablet online, sure you may get better specs, but it may be scratched, the battery may be starting to go bad, it may no longer be getting security updates, etc.

This tablet’s a little on the slow side, sure, but if you just want something for web browsing, email, social media, video, and some light gaming/retro emulation (nothing post n64/ps1)
then it will work great!

[2018 version vs 2020 version]
i’d been using the older ‘8th gen’ model amazon fire hd 8, and this new 2020 model offers some nice improvements.
A new upgraded cpu (2.0ghz, up from 1.3ghz), new upgraded gpu, it now runs fire os7 (based on android 9. So it should be compatible with more apps than the previous model.
The wifi/bt module has also been upgraded, it feels a bit more reliable, and it now supports the faster wi-fi 802.11-ac, and bluetooth 5.0

the usb connection has also been improved to usb-c, but don’t get too excited, it’s only running usb 2.0, so no hdmi out, and transfers would be slower than usb 3.0.

Without any technical data/benchmarks/speed test, i’d say it feels marginally faster than the older model, maybe 20%-30% with my current work load.

While the screen is the same size, they’ve adjusted the overall tablet shape a bit to make it shorter, with rounder edges.

And the speakers are moved to the top now, so it should keep your sound from getting muffled when sitting the tablet on a table propped up by a case.

[what’s the same 2018 vs 2020]
same 8′ 16:10 at about 720p,
the cameras are just as bad as always, but they’re fine for video chat.
Both feature a headphone jack, and microsd card slot,
and both are advertised to offer a 12hr battery life.

[2020 fire hd fire 8 vs 2020 hd fire 8 plus]
there are really only two main advantages to the ‘plus’ model,
wireless charging, and 50% extra ram.

I’d say don’t even bother with the ‘new 2020 hd fire 8 non-plus’, sure you’d save a little money, but the 50% extra memory on this model would help a lot with some apps, and memory is not something you can upgrade down the line.

The old 8th gen model only had 1.5gb or ram, so if you’re upgrading that to the 2020-non-plus,
then you’re only getting about 33% more ram, where the plus model doubles the extra ram.
In short if you’re looking to install google play, the extra ram is a must! Google services need the extra memory to work, and the less ram you have, the more they slow down the device.

Additionally, if you like having multiple apps open at a time, the extra memory will allow you to keep more open in the background before their force closed.

Wireless charging is nice too, but unless you’re going with amazons special tablet stand, i’d say it’s not a huge deal.

This tablet is ok. Here are my thoughts and experiences so far.
-excellent battery power. I listened to an audio book for 14 hours without 1 charge.
-screen is ok, but lacks brightness.
-my biggest issue is the volume. I have to have a speaker or headphones attached to hear. My cell phone has better sound volume and quality. I’ve had many tablets, this being my least favorite.

Edit: i have now had this kindle fire tablet for a few weeks, and i will throughly review this purchase to my fullest and honest opinion.

The latest 2020 kindle fire 8 hd model at its pricing is well worth the purchase for an entry leveled tablet user that can’t afford the more higher brand models. This model version can easily compete with those higher priced brands.

Pros:

price: even without the holiday special pricing, purchasing either the 32gb or 64gb internal storage devices are a steal as they both can be purchased for less than 200 dollars even with the advertisement removal.

The 2020 hd version features a faster processor of 3 gb ram and a quad core processor which makes the overall process of using the fire tablet (for streaming movies, playing games and browsing the internet much faster.

Like all of the tablets being produced nowadays (regardless of brand) the internet browsers are stressing the usage of the child safety features which will make for internet browsing a more safer and worry free place for children to navigate.

Size: the size of the tablet is perfect for both adults and children for everyday usage and not heavy like other models.

Battery life: superb and as advertised, works very well and lasts a long time. It recharges rather quickly as well.

Cons:

the ads waiver pay to have remove is an absolute annoyance, i’d personally pay full price to have it removed permanently.

Amazon based bloatware: i understand the financial need to recoup financial losses for having an tablet this cost effective, yet certain third party and amazon based apps, that clutter up the screen interface would be better served being relageted to the amazon store.

The buttons (volume, off/on) are in a strange place when not using in landscape mode.

The fire os for one operating off of the android system is rather limited and having to do a soft jailbreak shouldn’t need be, for a system and tablet that would be wonderful to use.

Blue mode. While i have an awesome paperwhite for reading, when using this fire tablet for its kindle feature, it’s still too bright despite lowering the brightness levels both on the kindle app and fire system.

Ambivilence:

user freindliness: upon its initial usage, kindle makes it a point to teach kindle neophytes how to use their kindle fire, yet i initially purchased a lesser versioned fire tablet to test out how user friendly this tablet would be for my mother-in-law for everyday game playing. I myself am rather electronically savvy and upon her initial entry into the fire/android os she might need my help installing apps, yet i see this as a device she should have no issues adjusting to from her ios device, which is no longer software upgradable.

Conclusion: while the lists of cons are what many here have mentioned my be a detraction or maybe even a hindrance to potential buyers, at this price and amazon’s ever growing and beautiful ecosystem, many including myself that have purchased more expensive tablets from other companies yet find my second ( i did purchase a wonderful fire 7 which i traded in soon there after for the 8hd plus) a wonderful foray in amazon’s wonderful ecosystem with much more purchases to come for other family members.

Thank you amazon as i will revisit this review one year from now.

The music app only works part time on the 8 plus. It does not work on the new 7in fire, when i try to use it i get error try again every time. I downloaded some harp music from online music to offline music. Later i downloaded some guitar music from online music to offline music, when i tried to play the harp music, the 8 plus wouldn’t recognize the harp music. Now neither of my 8 fire pluses will download any thing from online music. So the music app will be garbage until the software is fixed!!!!!!!